1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a refrigerator, more particularly, to a refrigerator including a vacuum space formed between an outer case and an inner case to improve an insulation function.
2. Background
A refrigerator is an electric home appliance can keep food stored in a storage compartment at a low temperature or a temperature below zero, using a refrigerant cycle.
A conventional configuration of such a refrigerator is provided with a case where a storage space is defined to store foods and a door rotatably or slidingly coupled to the case to open and close the storage space.
The case includes an inner case where the storage space is formed and an outer case configured to accommodate the inner case. An insulating material is arranged between the inner case and the outer case.
Such an insulating material suppresses the outdoor temperature from affecting an internal temperature of the storage space.
An example of the insulation material is urethane foams. Such urethane foams can be injection-foamed in the space formed between the inner and outer cases.
In this instance, to realize an insulation effect by using such the insulating material, a predetermined thickness of the insulating material has to be secured and that means that the insulating material becomes thick. Accordingly, a wall between the inner and outer cases becomes thick and the size of the refrigerator is increased as much as the thickness.
However, as a recent trend of a compact-sized refrigerator is on the rise, there is the need for the structure of the refrigerator that can make the volume of the internal storage space larger and the external size smaller.